Thunder Steamroll Bulls 5-1

November 21, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


The Thunder got back in the win column after a big offensive output helped beat San Francisco Wednesday night at Stockton Arena.

The Thunder got revenge for last weeks' home loss to San Francisco as they steam rolled the Bulls by a score of 5-1 Wednesday night at Stockton Arena.

Stockton got back in the win column after a winless streak of two games. The offensive onslaught was led by forward James Henry as he tallied two goals on the night, one in the first period and another in the third.

"Henry got a nice goal to get us kicked off and it eased up a lot of the pressure," said Head Coach Rich Kromm . "Guys were squeezing their sticks a little too tight in the past few games and once we found our groove we started to play a lot better."

The onslaught got started only 4 minutes and 25 second into the first period when Henry scored near post on Bulls goaltender J.P. Anderson. Thunder right winger Ryan Hayes found the cutting Henry after being tangled up in the corner for the first of 5 goals.

"Our mindset coming into tonight was to throw the puck at the net as much as possible," explained Henry. "Coming from that, good things started to happen and we just continued in that style throughout the rest of the game."

The second goal of the first period was scored by defenseman Landon Oslanski as he beat Anderson with a blast from the point. Oslanski received the feed from new Thunder forward Greg Miller, and the Thunder defenseman was able to double the lead with only 1:48 left in the opening frame.

Stockton was back at it in the second period when defenseman Ryan Constant scored from just in front of the blue line. After the Thunder dumped the puck into the zone, Hayes swung the puck around the board to forward Brayden Irwin who set up Constant. It was Hayes' second assist on the night, bumping his point total to a team high 17 points.

"We have been talking a lot about getting more shots on net," Constant said. "My only thought was to get it through and I was able to do that and it found its way in."

That goal would end Bulls netminder J.P. Anderson's night while Tyler Beskorowany would come in to spell the starter. Anderson finished stopping 19 of 22.

The Thunder tallied 2 more goals in the third period to finish the night with 5. The first came off the stick of left winger Matt Bergland. Constant passed the puck to left winger Andrew Clark, who was able to find Bergland on the back door for the tally. The fifth and final goal for Stockton was scored again by Henry as he crashed the net hard and was able to poke the puck past Beskorwany. Irwin and Shawn Boutin picked up helpers on the final Thunder goal.

The Thunder got another strong start from goaltender Brian Foster, who now improves his season record to 7-0-1.

"Everyone was playing well tonight," Foster said. "It's always tough when guys are going up and down with line-ups changing but tonight we really got to playing well."

After giving up 7 goals in the last two games, the Thunder held the Bulls to one goal. Foster saved all but one of the 33 shots he faced, bringing his save percentage up to .942 on the season.

"He is just so reliable back there it takes pressure off of everybody," said Kromm. "Guys aren't afraid to make mistakes when they know he's back there making the critical saves at the critical times."

Next up for the Thunder is a three-in-three beginning on Friday when the Utah Grizzlies come to Stockton for a 7:30 p.m. showdown. Following that game, the Idaho Steelheads come to Stockton Arena to play the next two games against the Thunder. Saturday's game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. while Sunday will be a 4:00 p.m. start.

This weekend the Thunder will host the "Share Your Thanksgiving" food drive to benefit the Emergency Food Bank and Family Services of Stockton/San Joaquin. Fans are encouraged to bring canned food to donate and will receive a discount off their ticket price of $1 for each can they donate, up to a minimum ticket price of $7 (Excludes glass, club, and suite seating locations and cannot be combined with other offers). Season ticket holders who choose to donate food will receive one entry per can of food into a raffle to win a suite for an upcoming Thunder game!

1st Star - James Henry, STK - 2 goals

2nd Star - Brian Foster, STK - 32 saves

3rd Star - Ryan Constant, STK - 1 goal and 1 assist



ECHL Stories from November 21, 2013


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